


Sweet Child of Mine

by MagusLibera



Series: Any Happy Stories [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, From chapter 3, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Parent-Child Relationship, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21944173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagusLibera/pseuds/MagusLibera
Summary: A short anthology of all of the first times that the Smoak Queen children say 'Mom' and 'Dad' to their parents.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Series: Any Happy Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601401
Comments: 56
Kudos: 162





	1. William - break down and cry

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my thirteenth fic! My lucky number.
> 
> Merry Christmas Eve to my fellow celebrators and Happy Winter to those of you enjoying the same season as myself. I just wish it would snow!
> 
> In honour of Christmas, I'm going to do a 12 Days fic-a-thon with one chapter a day, starting with this one. Chapter two of SCoM is set for Friday!
> 
> As you may have noticed, the title is inspired by the Guns N' Roses song Sweet Child O' Mine, which I thought of as soon as the concept of this came to me. All of the chapter titles have a similar inspiration.
> 
> Hope that you like it!

**Chapter I: William – break down and cry**

Growing up, it had just been William and his mom. Samantha and William against the world. She had been the most incredible, loving and kind Mom that he could have wished for. So much so that, whilst he had noticed it, he had never suffered from the lack of a parent in his life. It was just the two of them, and he was perfectly content to have life stay that way. Doing homework together, going to movies, hearing her cheer for him at baseball games, visiting his grandparents every weekend, it was everything that he needed. He was happy.

Then Oliver Queen arrived into his life from nowhere. Very quickly, it became apparent to William that Oliver was a big deal in the real world. There was no way to escape the fact when his face was constantly plastered on newspapers and featured on television. But to William, he was just Oliver. Mom’s friend who came and played action figures with him. Who was nice and fun and never treated him like some stupid little kid.

Often, William wondered why Oliver always came just for him. When they had first met, William had thought that Oliver was his mom’s new boyfriend and she was easing him into a new family dynamic. He found himself thinking that he would not mind it, having Oliver for a father. But that idea was quickly shot down when he saw Oliver’s fiancée smiling up at him whilst the two were on the news. There was just something about the way that they stood together, like each of their gravity was coming from the other, that made it clear that Oliver would not betray the blonde woman in any way. Not even with Will’s mom, who was the best.

Just as he settled into the new routine of only seeing his grandparents fortnightly as he spent every other weekend with Oliver instead, everything changed again. William was kidnapped. Weird thing was that he did not even realise it at first. Watching movies, he had always yelled and rolled his eyes at the idiots who blindly believed strangers and went places with them but when it had come to his own life, he had done exactly that. And then Damien Darhk took him and there was no escape.

Until the Green Arrow showed up. Clad in leather, bow in hand, and looking far more heroic than the Flash could ever hope to, he swooped in and took William straight back to his mother. Who then took him away to a new city, a new name, a new life. One without either his grandparents or Oliver.

Barely a year passed and with each day William missed the rest of his family and friends more and more even as he adjusted to his life as Matthew. Then Adrian Chase showed up, knowing his real name and talking about his father. The father that he had never known. Adrian Chase, however, turned out to be even more terrifying than Damien Darhk.

And then the Green Arrow showed up once again but that time it was clear that he was Oliver Queen and then he was also William’s father and then he saved William but Chase killed himself and the island was blown up and then… then Oliver came to William, his sister limp in his arms, his (ex?) fiancée battered and bruised but limping along by his side, a trail of his teammates behind the three of them ending with someone holding yet another limp, unmoving body and Oliver told William that his mother was dead. Oliver shattered his heart.

After that, it was difficult for William to trust Oliver again. He could see that his father was trying, he could see how stressed Oliver was and how much he just wanted to love him. He could even see that Oliver was taking the blame for his mom’s death upon himself, and was trying his best to make up for it. William could see all of that, and logically knew that his father would never have wanted any of the awful things from the last two years to have happened, but his nightmares were filled with the voice of Adrian Chase, telling Oliver to choose, telling Oliver that he was a murderer and it was his choices that led them to that island, and he found himself blaming his father too.

Or, at least, he thought that he was blaming his father. Perhaps, in reality, he had been trying to push Oliver away in order to protect himself from becoming attached to a man who went out and fought armed people with only a bow and arrow every night. A man who he was even more likely to lose than he had been likely to lose his mom. But Oliver put down the bow _for him_. He asked his ex to act as tutor _for him_. He asked William _his opinion_ on dating Felicity, giving her a key, what tie to wear to their dinner.

Falling in love with Felicity had been no more a choice for William than it had been for his father. She was light and love and she made the little family that he was forming with Oliver into a cohesive whole, a missing piece in their life. So when she came to save him from Raisa, he gladly played video games with her. When she spent the night over (which William _did not_ want to think too much about) he always made sure that there was coffee ready in the mornings. And when he saw her getting harassed by a reporter, he sent his father in to save her.

*************************

Oliver was having one of the best days of his life. The love of his life was by his side, he was spending time with his son, the whole city had come together to support one another and the sun was shining. The only thing missing was Thea.

With his burgeoning family smiling proudly at him, he took to the stage, only for Samanda Watson to show up and arrest him. Right in front of his son. There were a lot of things that Oliver could take. A public arrest was nothing that he had not faced before. Being arrested for being a vigilante was certainly an improvement from the cop car peeing incident, but the one thing that he would not stand for was having his family dragged into someone else’s personal vendetta – regardless of the accuracy of their accusations. And charging him right in front of his son was nothing short of vindictive. Malicious.

As he turned, hands being bound behind his back, he looked up at the two most important people in his life. With fear shining through his eyes and causing a wobble in his voice, William looked straight at Oliver and asked- _pleaded_ “Dad?”

The world came crashing down. What should have been an incredible moment, worthy of celebration and joy had been turned into one of pain. His son had called him _Dad_. Not Oliver, not ‘my father’, _Dad_. For the first time, his son had given him the right to be a Dad. His son had validated the emotions that had been coursing through him for almost two years, he had acknowledged Oliver’s role in his life and with just one word had let him know that his son saw him, he understood and he loved him too.

And he was dragged away before he could do anything more than offer empty platitudes.

He unleashed his fury at Watson at the first opportunity, making sure that his son would be brought to him immediately. _His son_. His son who called him Dad. Who looked at him with some of that distrust from the summer creeping back into his eyes. All that Oliver could do was attempt to explain to William that he was no longer the Green Arrow and the accusations were based on old facts. He told his son to be strong, sending him away with the knowledge – the _determination_ – that he would go home and hear the word ‘Dad’ fall from his child’s lips once again.

*************************

The first time that William thought of Felicity as a mother was actually before she married his father. Maybe that was not uncommon for step-children, but most step-children would have been given a warning of impending marriage in the form of an engagement, and that period of time would allow for something resembling a parent-child relationship to develop.

Not for William, though. As it was wont to happen in his family, neither his father’s nor his own relationships with Felicity developed in the expected way. After all, William never got to see Felicity as his dad’s fiancée because they jumped straight into the marriage part (without anyone but John there, as his Aunt Thea had pointed out at their consolatory wedding reception, voicing the displeasure that William felt at having missed it). But by the time that his father came home, golden rings shining on both his own and his new wife’s fingers and bright smiles shining on their faces, William already thought of Felicity as a mother.

When Oliver was arrested and William first said ‘Dad’ out loud, Felicity had lent him her strength with a gentle yet firm grip on his arm. It had let him know that everything would be okay, that even if his father went to prison or lost a fight, William would not be alone because he had Felicity. She was not his biological mother, and she never tried to replace Samantha, but she was his mother in every way that mattered. And so he thought of her as his mother for months before he ever said the word.

It took him a long time to feel comfortable enough to call her ‘mom’. Not because there was any hesitation in the way that he felt about her, but because he was unable to reconcile the way that he loved Felicity with the way that he loved Samantha. It was both so similar and so different. He saw both of them as parents, the love that he felt was what the Greeks would have called _philia_ and it responded to the _storge_ that both women seemed to naturally and unquestionably offer him.

He knew that Felicity had no qualms about her love for him. It was part of what made it so very easy to love her. In stories, the step-parent is always awful. Dismissive and often even jealous of the child of their loved one, and unable to form a bond with them beyond what was absolutely essential for the partner and child of somebody to coexist. Felicity could not be more different. She simply just loved him. She loved him in principal, before they even met, because he was part of Oliver and she loved every part of Oliver. And she loved him in life because something about him brought out that maternal part of her that let her see him as her own.

But for William, feeling that love for her often felt like he was betraying his first mom. Even though Felicity had never done anything to even seem like she was or was trying to replace Samantha, William could not help but hate himself for finding a new Mom so soon after Samantha’s death. He found Felicity not even half a year after he lost his mom. Surely he should have waited longer? Surely nobody should be able fill in that hole that she left behind?

As he grew older, as his relationship with his dad and Felicity developed, he grew to realise that he was not replacing Samantha at all. The hole had not been filled by anyone, he had only grown used to it and found better coping mechanisms with which he could bear the burden of loss. Felicity was not a replacement for Samantha, she was another mother, another person who loved him and who he could love. Extra. Wonderful.

And that was why he found it both easy and awful all at once when he called her ‘mom’. It was in Hope Springs, their first time in public. He was working on some code at the coffee place – Radu’s – where Felicity was working as Erin, the mother of James. And because of this, because of their aliases, William had to call her ‘mom’ whenever he addressed her. The first time it happened, he saw her visibly blanch, the word coming from his lips clearly affecting her and it was that moment that he realised that he had never said it to her before then. It had slipped out as naturally as anything, feeling good, feeling _right_ , but to Felicity it was completely new and amazing.

And forced. All he could do was wish that he had said it earlier, in their home in Star City, where she would have known for sure that he was calling her ‘mom’ because he wanted to, because it felt true. Not because it was a part of his cover.

*************************

It was twenty-forty by the time that Felicity finally heard William call her ‘mom’ when nothing around them would force any semblance of pretence. The anger that he had felt after she had sent him away to boarding school had stopped him from saying it to her again after they left Hope Springs and then they had been apart for twenty years. Twenty years. In which, William had fully reconciled his love for Samantha with his love for Felicity and had worked through his hurt. In which, he had begun to refer to Felicity as his mom every time that he thought or spoke of her, but she had not known that.

It was wonderful to say it to her.

*************************

Crisis changed everything. A series of incidents involving time travel, resurrection and spectral possession led to Oliver Queen returning home to his wife and daughter, and to them finally being able to bring their son back to them.

William had missed them so much that he did not think before exclaiming “Mom!” as soon as he saw Felicity, a big grin lighting up his face. She cried, and then blamed it on hormones. They had several long talks to work out exactly where things had gone wrong during and after his father’s stint in prison, and eventually worked out a way to do better. William got to meet his little sister too, and when he said to Felicity, “Mom, she’s so beautiful. She looks a lot like you.” as he held her for the first time, and then he found himself encased in his mother’s arms, and then all three of them were in the cradle of Oliver’s, safe and home at last.


	2. Mia - see an ounce of pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Welcome to chapter two on day three of the twelve days. Cutting it fine, but it's still the 27th for me!
> 
> Have fun with Mia!

**Chapter II: Mia – see an ounce of pain**

Mia was not yet talking when Oliver left with the Monitor. Whenever Felicity looked at her, whenever she held her and particularly when Mia would make another milestone, Felicity would feel another piece of her heart chip away under the pressure of the sorrow.

Oliver had been a fantastic dad. Obviously he had been to William too but the difference between parenting a pre-teen turned teenager and parenting a new born baby could not be understated and he had still taken to it like a fish to water. He had taken as many night shifts as he could, he had photographed every single moment and catalogued everything that Mia did, he had changed nappies and rocked her to sleep and held her on his chest for entire nights when she was being fussy and wanted to stay. He was remarkable and with him gone, exactly how remarkable he was had only been highlighted.

Felicity missed him more than she had ever thought possible. When she sent John to him, it killed her that she could not be the one to go, the sweet angel in her arms taking precedence. When their children – from the future – showed up in their Bunker and he took them back to their house, she had wanted nothing more than to race over to them, to her family, but the threat of the Ninth Circle and the general danger of Star City was too great to risk exposing her baby to. When Laurel told him and John about Lyla she wanted to march up to the other woman and demand an explanation (because Lyla would definitely have a rational explanation) but did not because she could not take the chance that the Monitor had been lying when he had promised not to touch Mia. After all, he had already forced her to time travel against her will, it was impossible to know what exactly he would be willing to do, and what clever words he would use to trick her and excuse his actions.

Eventually, it was not anything that was happening in Star City and the wider world that spurred Felicity into action, but her infant daughter. Because Mia, wild, advanced Mia, decides to prove just how alike her mommy and daddy she had grown to be by making two huge milestones all at once, well ahead of time. Her first move was to roll over from her belly to her back. That was new and a week or so earlier than anything that Felicity had read had predicted. Then, as soon as she could see her mother, she looked directly at Felicity with almost eerie precision on her eyes and said “Ma!” something that she should not be doing for a good month more.

Felicity gasped, air no longer moving through her lungs correctly as she experienced a wave of pure shock. Not that Mia talking was entirely unexpected, she had already been babbling nonsense nonstop just like her mother, but it was one thing to know things, to see the signs and read the books, and it was another thing entirely to see it. Mia had said her first word, and that word had been a call for her mother.

The joy was, of course, overwhelming. That wonderful, incredible feeling of knowing that her child knew her, and wanted her. But a cut of pain dashed through her. It was the first major milestone that Oliver had missed. There had been some smaller ones. Ones that he would still undoubtedly beat himself up over thanks to his need to be there for everything – something that Felicity was sure was due to his situation with William – but this was the first big one. And, Felicity knew, it was the one that he had been most excited for. More than anything else, he had wanted to hear his daughter speak. He had wanted to know her first word. He had wanted to see if she would sound more like himself or Felicity or another of their relatives. He had wanted to hear his daughter babble, just like his wife.

And he had missed it. He missed all of it and he would miss everything else if things went the way that he was convinced that they would. The thought caused for her to physically jolt, springing into action. She gathered up all of Mia’s things and strapped her baby to her chest, responding with placating niceties to Mia’s demands of “Ma.” Once the kid figured something out, she clearly was not one to leave it alone. More like obsessively continue with it.

As soon as she was ready, she stood with a determined glint in her eye and channelled some of Mia’s demanding force into her own voice “Novu! I demand to see my husband. You owe me this.” After a beat, a bright light filled her cosy living room, making her pull Mia’s face into her chest to protect the baby’s eyes and then… she was elsewhere. The Waverider but… _not_ at the same time. An alternate version, perhaps?

In front of her stood Lyla, clad in a badass costume, and the Monitor, looking as much of an entitled know-it-all as he had when he stole her husband from her.

Felicity Smoak was going to save her husband.

*************************

Never getting the chance to call your father ‘Dad’ to his face could have a strange effect on a person. For Mia, it felt like living in limbo. She knew who her father was, she called him ‘Dad’ every time she spoke to her mother, and whenever it was safe to do so outside of their home. But she never said it to him. She never even knew if he deserved to hear it, as conflicted as she was about his nightly activities and loose moral code.

Meeting William had made it all the more real. Hearing another person say it, hearing him call Oliver ‘Dad’ as easy as breathing helped to form the abstract, spectral image of her father into something tangible and read, but it also reminded her that William had known him. William had said the word to his face, he remembered hugs and the love of a father. That was something that Mia would never get. But it was William who helped her to realise that, even if she would never know her father’s love, she deserved to be able to offer him hers for as long as she wanted to.

So she did.

And that was why, when her life was once again turned upside down and she found herself twenty years in the past, looking at her father, the first thing that slipped out of her mouth was “Dad?”

Relief flooded her. That was somewhat unexpected, but it was the predominant emotion. Relief. Relief that she could finally say it to the right man. Relief that she was face to face with maybe the only person who might be able to truly understand her, and to understand Zoe’s loss. Relief that she would get the chance to know her father.

Anger quickly replaced that. Old wounds reopened at the sight of the man who, for so long, she had blamed for the ruins that were her life. How could he leave her? How could he leave her mother? How could he let William go? How could he have kept them apart? She could not make sense of it, and so defaulted to the emotion that she did best in order to escape the complex feelings within her. Fury.

*************************

Oliver had a different reaction. Initially: confusion. Three people had just appeared from nowhere… four including himself. And then one was clearly William, _his son_. And then… _Mia_. Mia, calling him ‘Dad’. It was wrong – no, right, so, _so_ right because she was _his little girl_ – but wrong because the first time that he heard that word from her, she should have still fit into the crook of his arm with her chunky cheeks and her adorable bear outfit. She should have been saying ‘Da’ right in front of himself, his wife and their thirteen year old son. Maybe as her first word, but probably as her second. She always did prefer Felicity, not that he could blame her for that. Actually, it probably would have been her third word. He would not have been surprised if ‘Will’ got a look in before ‘Da’ ever did.

Whatever number word it would have been, it should have been done with his whole family present and his daughter only a foot tall. Not with his wife missing and his children both grown up. Anything but that.

It became even worse once he realised that, not only had it been his first time hearing her call him ‘Dad’ but it had also been her first time saying it to him. How could that be fair? How could he have let his daughter live that sort of life, isolated and fatherless? How could he have allowed events to unfold in a way that left his son completely alone and his children apart?

It was agony to imagine.

*************************

After she had assisted the Monitor with the Crisis, things got weird. She went home with her daughter and… that was pretty much all that she remembered. Until she woke up. And she checked on Mia. And, baby in one arm, she made her way to the living room and turned on the television to the headline ‘GREEN ARROW KILLED IN CRISIS’.

She did not want to believe it. She could not. Not until she had a body in front of her and a DNA test in hand and vibrational evidence proving that the atoms of the body were of her universe. Oliver was a survivor, he would never let himself die. He would never _really_ leave her, not for good. Right?

A call came in – JOHN DIGGLE flashing across the screen. She struggled to bring herself to answer, unable to hear the words ‘Oliver is dead, Felicity’. But surely John would not say that over a phone? Surely he would come to her, be there for the two of them to help them through their tragedy.

She missed the call. On the television, Bethany Snow droned on about what a hero Felicity’s husband was. His noble sacrifices, not just in the Crisis but ever since he put on the hood. The plans to memorialise him with a statue. Like she had not condemned him for those exact actions only months before. What a two-faced city they came from.

As the segment was wrapping up, they summarised with a meaningless line about Oliver Queen played over the image of him as he told the world he was the Green Arrow. Mia pointed at the screen and, looking up at Felicity, squealed “Da!”

Felicity finally broke down. She had not registered the knock on the door. She had not heard it open, or taken in the heavy footsteps of a large man walking through her house. Not until he said, quite simply, after having stood there and seen her fall to her knees at her daughter’s words, “Felicity.”

*************************

Oliver did not die in the Crisis. Felicity, his perfect, remarkable Felicity, had intervened early on and set off a chain of events that made sure that he would come back to her. Without even knowing it, she dragged him back as he faded in the wake of Spectre’s possession of him.

He got to hold his daughter again. He got to make love to his wife again. He got to bring his son home. He got to apologise to all of them, and cherish them, and lavish them in his adoration. He got to cook their dinners, he got to change his future.

Most importantly, he got to be there to hear his son call his wife ‘Mom’ for the first time. To hold her, the night after William first said it, and remind her of the wonderful mother that she had become, of how worthy she was of William’s love. He got to listen to and relish his baby girl’s sweet cries of ‘Ma’ every single day, even if he had missed the first few. He got to hear Mia struggle with the ‘W’ of Will and watch as William grew increasingly frustrated at being called ‘ill by not just Mia but also both of his parents for as long as she was unable to say it. And that lasted a long time, because Mia soon caught on to the fact that it amused her parents and annoyed her brother every time she got it wrong and Oliver was convinced that she started to say it incorrectly on purpose, just to get a reaction. Whether it was a part of her evil baby plan or not, it succeeded.

He got to hear his daughter say ‘Da’ for the very first time. In the very moment that he returned home to them.

It was her second word. Just like he had imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oliver Queen WILL get a happy ending and if the writers won't write it, we will.
> 
> [Yay, me! I edited it!]


	3. Lucas - It takes me away to that special place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas makes a surprise visit and tries to please everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the sixth day... we did fluff. Just fluff. Have fun with it and know that I adore Lucas Smoak Queen.

**Chapter III: Lucas – It takes me away to that special place**

Oliver’s return home following the Crisis and his second resurrection in as many months had been celebrated very… thoroughly. So much so that within less than two months of his return Felicity found herself staring at three very, _very_ positive pregnancy tests. Mia was not even seven months old and Felicity was _pregnant_. _Again_. Curse Oliver and his fertility. Getting her pregnant as soon as he got back from prison just because she forgot to renew her birth control whilst he was gone. Doing it all over again after his resurrection because she had figured that she would not need any what with her husband being dead and all.

Whilst Felicity had reacted with a healthy dose of fear and frustration to match the excitement and adoration that welled up inside her at the news, Oliver’s reaction was one of pure joy. He was thrilled. Being able to help his wife through another pregnancy, seeing her belly grow again, actually getting to hold a pregnancy test for the first time. It was everything that he wanted. And the fact that William was there to do it with them, that there was no bittersweet undertone in having a child right after losing one, in being able to share it all with their son, it was the greatest thing that Oliver had ever experienced. This time, his whole family would be with him, his little girl would get to be an older sister, he would not miss a minute of the new baby’s life, he would be there for all of the firsts. And, best of all, they would actually be able to _tell_ their loved ones this time.

The team would never know. Curtis, Rene and Dinah were all operating under the assumption that Oliver was dead and they intended to keep it that way. The same went for Teams Flash, Supergirl, Legends and Batwoman. The fewer people who knew that Oliver was alive, the better. Donna, Thea, Roy and the Diggles – all five of whom had moved to Bloomfield themselves following the Crisis, Connor’s adoption and JJ’s twin, Baby Sara, being brought back into existence – could all be brought into the fold. After some discussion, Oliver and Felicity also decided to let Sara Lance in the know too, trusting her ability to keep their secret.

Thea and Roy were their first call. They knew about Mia already and had been in contact with Felicity following Oliver’s supposed death, wanting to let her know that they were there for her and expressing a desire to meet their niece. Felicity accepted, and when they came to visit, they were greeted by Oliver. Once Thea had calmed down, hugged William and held Mia for the first time, they dropped the pregnancy bomb. Oliver was somewhat miffed that her excitement over that news had been even greater than her excitement over his survival. “Ollie, I told you that I knew you’d survive last time you saw me. This, I didn’t expect.”

Donna did not stop screaming for a long time, not until the noise made Mia start to fuss. In fairness, she had just been in contact with her daughter and family for the first time in over a year, had seen them for the first time in almost two and all that at the same time as learning that her son-in-law was actually alive and that she had another grandbaby, and that her daughter was pregnant once again. It was a big day for Donna. As predicted, she doted on Mia. Her first reaction to learning about the little girl had been to berate Felicity for not warning her as she had arrived with a gift for William but nothing for the baby. She quickly corrected that by going out with Thea and William and buying what seemed to be half a shop’s worth of pink, fluffy and sparkly things for both Mia and the unborn child. Felicity was not best pleased.

Once all of their family was caught up, they told the Diggles about the pregnancy, figuring that it was only fair to tell Thea and Donna first that time since they had failed to tell them at all with Mia. Whilst Lyla congratulated them and asked how far along Felicity was, John could be heard muttering something about ‘bunnies’ and ‘the grief they put him through’. They chose to ignore him.

Finally, they called Sara and asked her to meet them in Star City. What with Oliver being legally dead and all, John went to meet her and the excited woman back to Bloomfield, where she was eager to meet the child of her best friends. Sara loved Mia immediately, informing Felicity that she had known that something had been up when she had visited the previous summer and felt stupid for not having guessed. She also berated Felicity for going out into the field whilst pregnant and made her promise to never do something so stupid again. That led to them telling her about the new baby and Sara also extracting a promise that they would inform her as soon as the ‘little tyke’ was born.

*************************

When they finally managed to make it to their twelve-week check-up (at fifteen weeks, but hey, raising a fourteen year old, an eight month old and running a rapidly growing company whilst also being pregnant was hard to juggle) they found themselves having to call all of their family all over again. Because of course, of _fracking_ course Oliver Queen, the overachiever undergoing not his first, not even his second but his _third_ unplanned pregnancy would finally manage it. Twins. Fracking twins. Not one new baby. Two. Two new babies. They were going to have _three babies_ to take care of. Three under three. Not even that, three under two plus one over fourteen. They were never going to sleep again.

He was elated.

Felicity spent the rest of the day scowling at his grinning face. After she got over the initial anxiety, she felt very smug that she had made herself a house husband. Let him deal with the dirty nappies whilst she was at work. She shuddered to remember trying to deal with Mia’s messes whilst simultaneously developing her newer, safer version of Archer. Making sure that she developed more of a J.A.R.V.I.S. than an Ultron.

In late October, less than nine months after her husband’s return, at thirty-eight weeks pregnant and furious (she had been told that most twins come at thirty-seven weeks and, as Mia had been very early, had been expecting a similar situation with her second pregnancy), Felicity had finally given birth to her second son.

Lucas.

The fifth member of the Smoak Queen family.

*************************

Lucas was a quieter baby. Where Mia had been demanding and stubborn, he was laid back and pliant. Where Mia had made it very clear exactly when she wanted Mommy or Daddy or, later on, her Wills and would not settle in the arms of any of the others at that time, Lucas was perfectly happy to be in the arms of any of his family members. He was even patient in waiting to be fed, unlike his siblings. Also unlike them, he was much more reserved, often looking confused or contemplative. He always seemed alert, and very aware of everything around him, but rarely expressed emotion. _So_ not like Mia, who had learned to scowl and decided it was her favourite thing to do, often laughing even as she glared at people. He rarely cried, and getting a smile from him was difficult, a giggle a rare treat. In spite of that, Lucas never seemed like a sad baby, just more withdrawn than his siblings.

His development also differed from Mia’s. Whilst hers had been faster than the average baby’s, her physical development had excelled far more than her cognitive development. Physically, she was a prodigy. As far as her intelligence went, she was still well above average but not so much as with her movement. By the birth of the twins, when she was a little shy of fourteen months old, she had already been running around and climbing on things like she was trying to rival her father’s parkour prowess.

Lucas, on the other hand was a cognitive prodigy. His language progressed at a near impossible rate and his understanding was very quick too. With things like rolling over, standing up, walking, climbing and running however, he was a little slower on the uptake. Almost the opposite of his big sister.

*************************

Lucas took after William and his parents mostly. His blue eyes were his mother’s, the little mole below his lip his father’s, his smile his brother’s.

The ways in which he was similar to his sister were also clear in spite of their many differences. Both had inherited the blonde noodle like hair of the Queens. They both adored their big brother and one another. They loved with everything in them. Their first words were both “Ma.”

Oliver was devastated. He had worked for months with the twins, constantly repeating “Da.” and attempting to encourage them to copy him only to have his second son completely defy him. Lucas had even started babbling “Aaa!” as he crawled around the house, making Oliver hope for his own name. As it turned out, the kid was just looking for Mama whilst she was at work, not chatting to Dada.

Felicity was delighted. She had assumed that, what with Oliver having taken over the primary daytime childcare burdens, their twins would say “Da.” first but she still had her magic touch. Her babies still knew who their coolest parent was. And, for the first time, she had heard her child call for her in a room filled with all of their loved ones.

Her husband, all four of her children and even her extended family had been there. Not even for any particular reason. Just for a Saturday afternoon. The Diggles, her mother, Thea and her new fiancé, Roy. All of them had been there. William had been entertaining little JJ, Sara and Connor, with Mia secured to his hip in order to prevent her from causing trouble. Thea and John had commandeered the twins, Thea claiming that she deserved time with her nephew and John stating that he missed having his twins be so small. It had just been a wonderful afternoon. Well, wonderful aside from Mia throwing a tantrum when she wanted to go to Daddy and not William anymore.

And then Lucas, who never asked for anything and was always just settled wherever he ended up, had looked up at his mother and reached his arms out, calling out “Ma.”

Oliver had gasped, overjoyed to hear his child’s first words and he had looked at his wife to ask “Was that his first word?” Felicity had just nodded, grinning and she jumped from the sofa to her knees, positioning herself before Thea and reaching for her little boy. As soon as he was happily in her arms, everyone had encircled the two of them, making a fuss over Lucas and his adorable little face. He had smiled and it had been magical. Until Lucas’ twin took offence at being neglected in favour of Lucas.

It was not until everybody had sat back down, returning to their own activities that Oliver had truly thought about what Lucas had said. Then he got a little grumpy, even if he claimed to be happy to have heard his son call Felicity ‘Ma’ for the first time.

*************************

Oliver did not have to wait long to hear Lucas’ first ‘Da’ though. Ever the peacekeeper, the little boy had looked up from his cot that very same night and evened the playing field. As Oliver and Felicity said goodnight to their children, still having three in the nursery (though they were preparing Mia’s proper room for her), Lucas had met his father’s eyes after receiving a kiss to the forehead and as Oliver had moved away, he had reached up with tiny grabby fists and called “Da.” In protest.

It had made Oliver cry. And then Mia made him laugh as she started yelling “Dada! Dada!” in an attempt to outdo her little brother and regain her father’s attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to smush his little cheeks and hold him forever, okay?


	4. Tommy - the thunder and the rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare to meet Lucas' twin...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Decade Everyone! Let's hope that this one brings better things.
> 
> To clear up some confusion from the last chapter: yes, Lucas is a twin and this chapter tackles that. My idea going into this fic was that each chapter would feature one of the Smoak Queen children and in their chapter, we would see their first 'Ma', 'Da' and get to know them a little. Each chapter is also supposed to specifically deal with that child's interactions with their family, so in chapter one we just get William with Felicity and Oliver, but in chapter two we get Mia with her parents and also with a bit of William.
> 
> With Lucas, I decided not to talk about his twin in his chapter, only his interactions with his older siblings but the twins' relationship will be included in this chapter, don't worry!
> 
> Anyway, here is another one, enjoy!

**Chapter IV: Tommy – the thunder and the rain**

Oliver had wanted twin girls. He loved having girls, albeit he only had one with which to compare. Obviously he loved William with everything in him but when it came to his new babies, he loved his Mini-Felicities. Felicity did not care. She was still reeling from the fact that there were two little aliens inside her instead of just the one. No wonder she was so hungry all of the time, demanding Oliver’s chili almost every meal for half of her pregnancy.

When everyone started betting on it, she refused to partake, but did notice that William bet on it being a boy and a girl. She managed to maintain a lack of opinion right up until Oliver started pitching names for his theorised twin girls. They had decided to choose two names for a boy and two for a girl, easily having come to an accord with the boys but only agreeing on one girl name. Felicity could not find any others that she liked and then Oliver suggested that they call the other one Donna. She did _not_ agree with that. Not that she did not love her mother, she did, but giving one of their children the same forename as her would be catastrophic. Donna would never shut up about it – she would never _leave_. And Felicity needed her mother to leave at least once in a while. She would go insane without a break. Felicity knew that she would love another little girl but for as long as Donna remained their only option for a third daughter, she hoped that a maximum of one of the twins would be female.

Lyla was the only one who won the bet, making all of Felicity’s worries about her mother moving in with them null. She put her money on two boys. Lucas and, twenty gruelling minutes (for his mother and father) later, Thomas. Tommy.

In every way that Mia was Felicity’s double with her blonde hair and dainty looks and fierce attitude, Tommy was the double of his namesake. Somehow. In reality, it was Felicity’s natural brown hair that he inherited, but for all the world it seemed like it had come directly from Tommy the elder. And as luck would have it, Oliver’s eyes were strikingly close in colour to his old best friend’s. With some interference from Felicity’s genes, the crystal blue of their son’s eyes was an almost perfect match to Tommy Merlyn’s.

It was eerie in many ways. If it had been a decade and a half prior, and Tommy Smoak Queen had been the child of some relationship of Oliver’s prior to meeting Felicity, he would have suspected that the woman had mixed up her timings and mistaken the baby for Oliver’s when they had actually been Tommy’s. But it was not ‘oh-five, and Tommy had definitely come out of Felicity. Oliver’s hand had the nail shaped scars to prove it. _He_ had the mental scars to prove it. The miracle of life sure was traumatic when it forced Oliver to watch the love of his life in unimaginable agony.

*************************

Tommy Smoak Queen definitely took his namesake and his appearance seriously though. From day one, it was like the spirit of Tommy Merlyn had possessed him and the child behaved as mischievously as possible. For as clever as William was, for as feisty as Mia was and for as sweet as Lucas was, Tommy was cheeky.

As a new born, his favourite activity was to wait until his nappy was being changed to wee. Directly in the faces of his parents and brother. And as soon as the little minx learnt to laugh, he would chuckle away as the spray hit his family members. William quickly learnt to busy himself with either chores or one of his other siblings whenever Tommy needed changing.

Once he mastered picking things up, he found a new game. Throwing them away. Preferably somewhere difficult or inconvenient to retrieve them from, like under the sofa or into the forest. He loved that game. He also made a habit of riling up his siblings as much as possible. Not in a malicious way, the boy was not cruel, just naughty. No, not cruel. He was just the kind of child who found it amusing to make everyone else grumble.

With William it was the small things. Whenever the two of them spent time together, Tommy would make an effort to undo whatever it was that William was doing. If William was working with Tommy on his lap, Tommy would press the keys on his laptop or rearrange the things on his desk or scatter his papers. If William was making a game for his younger siblings, Tommy would giggle and move the toys that William had got out around whenever his back was turned. If the television was on, Tommy would find a remote and press the buttons.

Tommy and Mia, however, butted heads far more explosively. The two of them were both the most stubborn, unyielding children ever to have lived and it meant that they would often annoy one another. If Mia wanted a specific toy, then Tommy would go after that one too. If Tommy wanted to be held by a particular person, Mia would suddenly want that person too. Felicity often remarked that the only person who could give either of them a run for their money was the other. Oliver groaned at the thought of their teen years.

Lucas was a different story. Tommy was more gentle with his older twin than with any of his other family members. Like he knew that Lucas was a shier, quieter soul and he adjusted himself accordingly. The twins were antitheses of one another. Lucas being very much like William in the ways that Mia and Tommy were alike and being more like Mia in the ways in which Tommy took after William. But both of them clearly adored one another. Both of them were loving, adorable babies. Tommy did occasionally like to try and get a rise out of Lucas by babbling incessantly at his brother at times when Lucas clearly did not want to chat, but Lucas would never take the bait and his presence always soothed Tommy, making him calmer. Lucas had that effect on everyone but never more so than on his younger brother.

*************************

It was a little while after Lucas’ first words that Tommy started talking. His first word was not ‘Ma’, nor was it ‘Da’. No, Tommy’s first word was “No!”. Naturally. The child was a menace. After ‘No’ came ‘Lou’, Tommy making it very clear exactly who his favourite person was. But as soon as Tommy had mastered his twin’s name, he moved straight on to ‘Ma’. Oliver would have felt dejected, once again his child had mastered ‘Ma’ before ‘Da’, but the thing was, Tommy had not been calling for Felicity when he yelled out “Ma!” Oh, no, he had been calling for Oliver.

That same night, Tommy had called Felicity ‘Ma’ too. She had been thrilled, Oliver less so. Tommy called Oliver ‘Ma’ for far too long after that. Of course he did, he was Tommy. He called both of his parents ‘Ma’ with slightly different inflections that often allowed them to gauge which parent he wanted and what he wanted from them. He asked for Oliver first, but he said the right word for Felicity.

Oliver was convinced that the little nightmare knew exactly what he was doing too. There was a look in his eyes that told him that Tommy knew – he knew – that ‘Ma’ was not the right word, but he said it anyway. Oliver would sit in front of his son for hours repeating “Da, Tommy. Say ‘Da’, I’m your dada.” and Tommy would just look at him, silent before he gleefully said “Ma!” with a finger pointed at Oliver.

*************************

In the time after he began that latest frustrating game, Tommy also learnt “Mi.”, “’ill” and even “Ee-ah” for his other siblings and his aunt. He got all of their names right, the only person for whom he still got it wrong was Oliver.

One time, when Oliver had tried to correct his son following a “Ma.” the boy flat out defied him. Purposefully, Oliver was sure.

He had sat Tommy down and said “No, Tommy. Not ‘Ma’. ‘Da’. I’m Da.”

Tommy shook his head belligerently and simply stated “No.” before giggling and, as he so often did, he pointed at Oliver and said “Ma!”

Oliver sighed.

*************************

There came a day when Mia got grumpy with Oliver because of how long he had spent on his belly in front of Tommy as he tried in vain to prompt the right response. Knowing that Mia would throw a full blown tantrum if she did not get what she wanted, Oliver picked Tommy up to place him with Lucas in the playpen, reassuring Mia as she clung to his legs saying “Dada, no. Dada, me.”

He turned away from the twins to play with his daughter, helping her to build some giant Lego towers and he caught her when she attempted to use those towers as platforms for flipping practice. Maybe she was the nightmare of the family. He and Felicity had certainly produced some energetic children.

Suddenly, a cry filled the room, coming from the playpen. Oliver jumped up, Mia in his arms to prevent any further incidents, and rushed over. In the playpen, his son was lying on the floor, and Lucas was crawling over to help his younger brother. Tommy had clearly tried to stand up or climb the pen walls or something and had taken a tumble. There was a little cut on his forehead where he had smacked it on one of his toys.

“Oh, Tommy.” He said to his crying boy, as he lowered Mia down into the playpen to free up his arms. He knew that she would escape fairly quickly, but hoped that the bars would give him enough time to sort out Tommy first.

As soon as he began reaching down to Tommy, the child looked up at him, his arms reaching up as he sniffled and cried “Da.” Oliver froze.

“What did you just call me, Kiddo?”

“Da!” Tommy wailed urgently, making Oliver rush to pick him up again. Oliver took care of the cut and cuddled Tommy to his chest.

“Oh, Kiddo. Are you okay?” he crooned.

“Da.” Tommy sniffled, rubbing his face in the crook of Oliver’s neck. Oliver’s heart swelled. Then Mia escaped, and the moment was broken.

When Felicity emerged from her office, he proudly showed off their son’s new skill.

Tommy did not stop saying ‘Da.’ after that. It became his favourite word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last bit to go. We'll wrap up our little family story on Saturday. See you then!


	5. Ada - eyes of bluest skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver finally gets his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas finishes tomorrow and I'll have to put away my beloved jumpers so I'm sad. We're also at the end of this journey now and I'm not ready. SCoM is done. I don't currently have any plans to continue it but if anything comes to me or if I see an idea or prompt that inspires me, then I would be more than happy to add a story to this universe.
> 
> This has genuinely been one of my favourite things to write ever. I've loved every minute of it and all of you who have read, left comments and hit the kudos button have brought me all of the joy so thank you!
> 
> [EDIT 13/01/20: I have now added to the SCoM universe with an extended scene from Chapter I. I have made a series called Any Happy Stories where this story and any others like the new one will be kept.]

**Chapter V: Ada – eyes of bluest skies**

By the time the twins were one, Oliver was already asking for another baby. There was no regret in Felicity’s heart when she completely shut that thought down. They already had their three under three, plus a fifteen year old who was going through his first boy problems with a kid in one of his classes. Adding another would have bumped them up to four under four by the time any hypothetical child was born. And that was without considering the possibility of multiple births. Felicity did not think that she could handle _another_ set of twins.

And Will was already looking to go to college. He was preparing applications. At fifteen. That was crazy, why did they have to end up with a genius son who had to leave home early? Though Felicity could not help the pride that filled her when he sent off his application to MIT, following in her footsteps. It also made moving to Bloomfield permanently an even wiser decision, as Bloomfield was less than two hours away from the MIT campus and William would be able to drive home to see his family whenever he wanted. To the surprise of no one, he got accepted the summer after his sixteenth birthday and they came to the agreement that he would live on campus but would return home at least every other weekend. They were proud to send him off, but he was still a minor. They were still responsible for him.

After William left home, Oliver’s pleas for another child became even more regular. As did his attempts to prove to her how much fun baby making could be. That part, Felicity did not mind in the least. But when Oliver attempted to use William leaving as a point in favour of having another child (“We only have Mia and the twins most of the time now, Felicity. We can totally handle another one!”), she drew the line (“Oliver, we need to be available for William. He’s a sixteen year old boy at college, he will need support. Besides, he’s home every other weekend and over the breaks anyway. No more babies!”). Felicity was fairly adamant that there would be no more, not seeing how they could fit another child into their lives.

*************************

But when Mia turned four and was accelerating through pre-k, and the twins were far less high maintenance than they had been in their twos, Felicity started to think about it. She missed having a baby. She missed watching their little faces as they experienced all of their firsts. She missed rocking them to sleep. She missed seeing their tiny bodies dwarfed under Oliver’s hands (not that they did not still dwarf Mia and the twins). She missed getting to know her child, their likes and dislikes, their personalities.

She realised that she would like another baby, her heart yearned for one, she felt like there was one little piece still missing in their family, but her head said otherwise. It argued over the logistics of having a fifth. They were lucky enough to have had the foresight to extend the cabin prior to the twins’ arrival, making space for six bedrooms, a nursery that had become a playroom once they moved the twins out and offices for both Oliver and Felicity, but where would the baby go? Giving them the spare room would leave nowhere for guests and they got _a lot_ of guests. Donna needed somewhere to stay when she visited. And who would look after the little one? Felicity was the CEO of a very successful but still young company and Oliver had begun his own business once some of his time was freed up, so he was also very busy.

How would the other kids react? William had been at college for more than a year and would be there for a good while more. Would he be upset about them having a baby when he was away? Would he be upset because he would not be able to see them every day like he had with the twins? How would Mia react? She tended to show her feelings in full force, having no mode other than _all in_. She would either be the doting big sister or she would hate her sibling’s guts. Lucas could be expected to react just as easily as he did to everything else, but what if the change caused for him to change? What if it made him snap? And Tommy, the wildcard, he could have literally any reaction. Anger, annoyance, distance, coldness, warmth, curiousness, amusement, love. It could go any way with him.

And perhaps her greatest fear: what if she could not get pregnant? It sounded ridiculous considering that she had already grown and delivered three happy, healthy, perfect children and had raised four, but there were still uncertainties with regards to the affects her paralysis might be having on her. She was older than she had been with the others, close to an age in which conceiving can become a real issue for a woman. A difficulty. In combination with the holes that had once been carved through her stomach and the slashes that had been cut into her back, that could be a major issue. And she knew exactly what people said about trying for a baby. It could be heart breaking and the long time with sex scheduled around her body clock could cause for a loss of romance, tensions between the two of them and the eventual destruction of a relationship.

In fairness, people also said similar things about marriage and that had never been Felicity’s experience. Even in his old age (thirty-eight but still, he was complaining about his joints more and more each day), her man was just as hot and incredible as he had been on the day that they met. And the new grey hairs creeping from his temples to the tips of his beard were actually working for him quite well.

*************************

When he broached the subject again, she surprised him by telling him that she had been thinking about having another one too. She aired out her fears and misgivings about it, and her husband, her wonderful, hopeful husband had clearly been thinking about what possible concerns she might have because he had an answer for all of them. No more room? “I’ll build another extension.” What to do with a baby during the day? “I’ll extend my paternity leave and work from home as much as possible and bring the baby in with me if I need to.” William feeling resentful? “Honey, William adores his siblings, he’ll adore another one just as much.” Mia and the twins’ reactions? “As much as Mia might pretend she doesn’t like the twins, we know she loves them. Lucas is the most loving soul to ever exist, another baby will just be another place for him to put some of that love and Tommy is so protective of Lucas, he’ll probably be just as protective of a younger sibling.”

When she worried about their sex life becoming stale, he actually had the gall to laugh at her.

“Felicity, if our sex life can remain fantastic even when you’re recovering from a gunshot and navigating paralysis, I’m pretty sure that it can survive me trying to get you pregnant. Getting you pregnant is one of my favourite things to do. We’re bigger than the freaking universe, if we can survive two different occasions in which we suffered through months long separations – one of which we expected to be permanent – in the first few years of our marriage, we can survive anything.

“And if you can’t get pregnant, then that’s something that we’ll come to when it happens. We already have four amazing children, it’s not like we _need_ a fifth. But if we get to that point and decide that we still want another one there are plenty of options that I would be happy to explore.”

Eventually, after much discussion and compromise, Felicity decided that none of her fears could outweigh the love and joy that would come with another child. She agreed to have one. Oliver just about lost his mind.

*************************

The first month was filled with excitement and Oliver made a point to be with her in pretty much every spare moment that they found. When her period came, she accepted it with some disappointment but she had not expected them to be immediately successful, even if they had been in the past.

In the second month, some of the excitement turned to tenderness, as if the fact that they were actually _trying_ for a baby (a first for them) had finally sunk in and he could not contain the affection bubbling up inside him. The negative tests that month were a little harder to take and Felicity found doubt seeping into her again, worried for their future.

In the third month, she tried to do everything by the book, something that Oliver was not best pleased by but she wanted to give them the best chances possible. When even that failed, she found her heart beginning to break. Logically, she knew that she still had several months before she even hit the _average_ amount of time that it would usually take an _average_ couple to conceive but their previous pregnancies had been so quick and effortless that she could not help but think the worst.

Four months in and Felicity had started to lose hope. Oliver was like a man possessed, completely ignoring all of Felicity’s research in favour of his new wave of determination. Like their lack of a foetus was a personal affront to him. Like he had somehow failed her by letting her feel doubt again.

Oliver’s method won out in the end because during that fourth month, Felicity found herself staring at a positive pregnancy test and an overjoyed husband.

*************************

In December, just over four years after the birth of the twins, the Smoak Queens welcomed the seventh and final member of their family to the world. Ada Smoak Queen. Named after the first ever computer scientist, Ada Lovelace, much to Felicity and William’s delight. Oliver could not bring himself to veto the name, not when he saw how much his family loved it. Especially not after Felicity told him about the password honouring all of her greatest loves that she had used to prevent the Earth-X Nazis from killing Kara.

From the moment that Ada came screaming into the world, she had Oliver wrapped around her little finger. She was his princess, his baby girl and he was her absolute favourite person to ever have existed.

All of their children were a good mix of the two of them. William had all of Oliver and Samantha’s looks and all of Felicity’s smarts. Mia had Thea’s eyes and waves and Donna’s colouring. Oliver’s fight and Felicity’s features. Lucas inherited Moira’s hair but Felicity’s eyes and his father’s good looks. Tommy’s colouring was all his mother, but his crystal blues were closer to Oliver than Felicity and his slimmer build was definitely from his aunt.

Ada though, Ada was Felicity’s double. Even more than Mia had been. Her bright blonde hair may not have come directly from Felicity but it sure made her look just like her mother when she looked up at Oliver with her little brow furrowed in exactly that way that Felicity did whenever she was deep in thought. Oliver’s heart melted every single time he looked at her. And then she would open her big blue eyes and he would see himself reflected in them, see how her eyes were a mirror of his own and he was helpless but to do anything to please her.

*************************

As Oliver had predicted, William loved Ada just as much as he had his other siblings. He was eighteen years old and a man in his own right by the time she arrived, but that did not change his presence in her life. He started coming home more often to be with her and see as many of her early days as possible after her birth, she had him wrapped up nearly as tightly as she had Oliver.

Mia, at five years old by the time she got her first sister, became the overprotective older sister in every way possible. At times, she got a little possessive over the baby, not letting anybody else hold Ada or play with her but it all came from a place of love. Whenever they came into contact with strangers, she would glare at them until they left Ada’s vicinity and whenever anybody who was not Oliver, Felicity or William tried to hold Ada, Mia would hover around them and correct their baby holding technique to make sure that Ada never got hurt.

Most of Ada’s early learning was actually driven by Lucas who had taken it upon himself to teach his little sister about everything in the world. He would carefully guide the little girl with how to sit up correctly and what the best ways to crawl were and for months after her birth, everything that he did or made in pre-k was done in her honour. He smiled more than he ever had before whenever he was sat with Ada in between him and Tommy.

When they had first brought Tommy to the hospital to meet Ada, he had been a little wary, not really knowing what to do with her. It had actually been something of a traumatic experience for him as he had not understood why Felicity was not coming home with them and had got upset when she stayed with Ada, crying all the way home. But when they brought her home and settled her in his lap, letting him hold her on his own for the first time, it was like a switch had flipped inside him. Even though Tommy had technically been the youngest member of the family for his whole life, he had always had a fiercely independent streak that made him seem older than Lucas, who was quieter and happier to receive help. His protectiveness over Lucas had also often made him seem more like Mia’s twin than Lucas’ as most of the few times that they had united were to protect their brother. With Ada, it was like Tommy had finally been given permission to let that older brother side of himself fully loose and he took his duties very seriously, often even ‘patrolling’ around “Like Dada!” wherever Ada was as Lucas helped her or Mia hogged her.

*************************

But as much as Ada adored her siblings, and they adored her, nobody could compete with Oliver. That was why it came as a surprise to absolutely nobody except Oliver when his little princess’ first word was “Da.” Her first _word_. Not her first name, not her first time trying to talk to a specific person, her first _word_. And she said it on his fortieth birthday. He was not ashamed to admit that he cried.

She was the first of his children to actually say ‘Da’ before ‘Ma’, and she had said it before she said any other words and she had said it to him. To his face. He felt that sobbing was a reasonable reaction.

*************************

He felt a little guilty about it when, a month later, Ada had still not said ‘Ma’ and Felicity was beginning to worry that her youngest child hated her. Oliver tried to explain to her that it did not mean anything, and that Ada adored her. Which was true, Ada’s love for Felicity was as strong as her love for Oliver. The only difference was that Oliver was her favourite. But when Ada was saying ‘Da’, ‘’ill’, ‘Mi’, ‘Lou’ and ‘Tom’ but still not ‘Ma’ it was difficult not to let irrational fears get to her. She knew that they had no logical foundation but still found herself unable to shake them.

As it turned out, Ada must have had some sort of superpower because she waited until Felicity’s birthday, a bit over a month after Oliver’s, to finally yell out “Ma!” in her sunny little voice, a bright smile on her face. Right at the correct moment in their family’s rendition of _Happy Birthday_. And if Felicity, a woman with four young children and one grown up one, shed a tear in that moment then who could blame her?

Her husband was fully sobbing right next to her, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END <3 :_(

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm pretending like the Dark Knight Rises ending is canon until they say otherwise. Hence the happiness there.
> 
> Also, fun fact: the Ancient Greeks had seven words all referencing love but each one spoke of a different kind of love, something that I feel English and most other languages could also benefit from.  
> The obvious one is Eros, named after the god, which refers to sexual love.  
> Philia we still use today in a lot of suffixes and it refers to a familial love.  
> Ludus is usually the love that a child has, it is fun and playful, but really just means a light, unattached form of love.  
> Pragma is the root of the word pragmatic but it actually refers to the deepest, most important kind of love between those who have loved one another for a long time and remain devoted to one another.  
> Agape is a selfless love, usually used in the context of society or strangers.  
> Philautia is a form of self love that inspires self confidence but is also a very selfish form of love.  
> The final type is storge, or the unconditional love of a parent for their child. This is the love that Oliver and Felicity offer their children.
> 
> Okay, etymology geek out over. Any mistakes are mine.
> 
> I'm on Twitter [@MagusLibera](https://twitter.com/MagusLibera).


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